Fuente: candidmagazine.com

Discovering the cultural and culinary highlights of Madrid.

Madrid is an expansive city with picturesque boulevards, immaculate parks and a vibrant cultural and culinary scene. However, it is a city that people do tend to neglect in favour of the more attention-seeking seafront towns and cities along the Spanish coast. We went for a short visit recently to discover the hidden gems of this buzzing metropolis.

We stayed in one of their premium rooms which include balconies that look into the fashionable Chueca neighbourhood. Goose feather duvet, rain effect shower, and Hierbas de Ibiza amenities are just what you need for a relaxing city escape.

If you are around on Sundays, then make sure you book a table for their sumptuous Sunday brunch. They have an exquisite selection of buffet starters and a choice of mains to allows you to try the best of Spanish cuisine from top quality charcuterie to authentic paellas.

If you are around on Sundays, then make sure you book a table for their sumptuous Sunday brunch. They have an exquisite selection of buffet starters and a choice of mains to allows you to try the best of Spanish cuisine from top quality charcuterie to authentic paellas.

However, the best points about the hotel are what they offer for their guests: guaranteed 24 hour stays mean no need for embarrassing requests for a late check-out and also they offer à la carte breakfast at your convenience. No need to crawl out of the bed early after hitting the fantastic tapas bars in Madrid the evening before.



Being centrally located means they are a plethora of dining options you can explore. Madrid is a Mecca for Michelin-starred restaurants and one we highly recommend is La Cabra. Their head chef Javier Aranda earned his first Michelin star at the age of 27. Their tapas dishes might sound deceptively simple, but you will struggle to find better-executed versions anywhere else in Spain. Joselito Iberian ham croquetas were sumptuously soft and had a distinctive acorn richness that just lingers on your palate. The presentation is immaculate even down to simple dishes like Olivier potatoes salad, tobiko roe, and sesame which is served in a Matryoshka doll to hold the individual components. More elaborate were curious combinations such as king prawns, satay sauce, and bergamot or pan-sautéed eel with sesame and raspberry hoisin sauce.

The cultural scene is extremely vibrant in Madrid from the classical magnificence of the Prado Museum, with one of the finest collections of European art in the world, to their thriving theatre scene. If you get the chance, do catch the brilliant, global superstars that are Los Vivancos: their sell-out shows contains a unique blend of flamenco, martial arts, acrobatics and rock concert. Their infectious, energetic personalities transmit particularly well on stage as they dance and fight to rapturous applause from the audience, with the ending of their latest show including a jaw-dropping upside down flamenco dance from the talented brothers.

Madrid is a metropolitan city that demands repeated visits as there is so much to see and discover. No doubt team Candid will be back to visit in the not too distant future.